


Will the Wise

by cheekaspbrak



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Byler If You Squint, Other, Sad Will Byers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Will Byers Gets a Break, Will Byers Needs a Hug, mileven if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-06 04:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20285143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheekaspbrak/pseuds/cheekaspbrak
Summary: Will sits in the Wheeler’s basement, waiting for his supposed best friends to show up when he comes to the conclusion that no, they’re not coming…again.





	Will the Wise

**Author's Note:**

> I just really wanted to write everybody showing up to play D&D with Will because he deserves some love.

Will picks at the hem of his purple “Will the Wise” costume. He doesn’t wear it often, but because it’s homemade it’s already started to come undone at the seams, one long white string getting caught on the jagged edge of his nail that had been chewed to a stub from nerves. He could vividly remember telling his mom his vision, showing her the drawing of what he wanted it to look like. She stayed up so many nights in a row after work, trying to get it just right. He would come out of his room late at night with socked feet, after some terrible nightmare and find her at the kitchen table with her old, ugly sowing machine. She’d smile at him and ask “What do you think of it so far, baby?”. He’d ask if he could try to do it himself for a little while. She’d always say “of course” and pull up a chair for him. They would laugh when he tried to emulate her work with clumsy, small hands until his eyes grew heavy again and he felt safe enough to go back to sleep.

Right now, he misses those nights more than ever before. Those nights when he’d been so filled with anticipation for the next Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Back then, they would last for hours on end and no one would complain. But right now, he is sitting in Mike Wheeler’s own basement, alone. He had finally wrangled the boys into agreeing to play with him, but now they were nowhere to be found.

He’s been waiting down there for nearly half an hour. He had set everything up perfectly, unrolled his sleeping bag, double checked that everything was set up perfectly, drawn a quick sketch on a nearby piece of paper, and then realized that no, they weren’t coming.

He jumps upon hearing a knock on the door, but his shoulders slump back down when it opens to reveal Karen Wheeler.

“Hey, honey” she says in her sweet mom voice, “Would you like a snack or something to drink?”

Will shakes his head sadly, “No thanks, Mrs. Wheeler.” This is the third time she’s offered. He feels the embarrassment burn hot on his cheeks.

She sighs and looks back over her shoulder, towards the front door, “I’m sure he’ll be here soon. He’s probably just late.”

He nods in response, but knows the truth. They had all stood him up, probably for their respective girlfriends. Maybe they forgot, or maybe they remembered and did it anyway. Karen hesitates next to the door for a few moments. Her motherly instinct is pushing her towards him, to comfort him, to apologize for her stupid son. She pushes these feelings away, like she often does, and turns to leave. As the basement door clicks shut, he looks at the board and dice he had laid out. How long had it been since they had last all gotten together? Too long. He had even tried to make it easier on Mike by planning the campaign himself, albeit it wasn’t a very good one because it was his first try. He had done everything he could to make them want to play. He feels anger bubble up in his chest, he shouldn’t have to _make_ his friends want to hang out with him.

With hot tears burning the back of his eyes, he starts to angrily put away his game. He can’t believe he has fallen for this. He can’t believe his friends couldn’t set aside _one night_ to spend time together. If “falling in love” means ditching the people who love and care about you, then he wants no part of it.

He shoves the sketch in his bag and heads for the sleeping bag he had laid out. As he bends over to roll it up, he hears the door suddenly open and footsteps rushing down the stairs. He stands up so fast he nearly hits his head on the table.

“BYERS!” He hears the boys shout in unison, then he sees their feet poke out from the top of the staircase.

“You’re here.” He says, barely able to contain the smile on his face, “You came.”

Mike, Dustin, and Lucas rush into the room, panting heavily. Will notices that they’re sweating and wonders what on earth they could have been doing before they got there. Mike is the first to talk, as usual.

“We came as fast as we could.”

“What happened?” Will asks, curiosity piqued at their red faces and heaving chests.

“Mike wanted to surprised you and-“ Lucas starts, instantly cut off by Mike himself.

“I planned a new campaign, I hope that’s okay.” Will nods, confused but simultaneously excited. Mike is looking at him like he did when the mind flayer possessed him, like he’s checking him for injuries or emotional distress. Will hopes that it’s not noticeable he’d been on the verge of tears moments ago.

“Why’d you plan a new campaign?”

“So we could squeeze in a few more players.” Dustin responds just as Eleven and Max come down the stairs, arms filled with sodas from the kitchen. They’re thanking Mrs. Wheeler as they close the door and their eyes turn to meet Will’s. They both wave at him excitedly, like they’re here just to see him.

"I thought you might enjoy it if we had a few more people” Mike adds sheepishly, then raises up the grocery bags Will hadn’t noticed were in his hands, “and Max insisted we pick up some snacks first.”

“If Mike would stop complaining and listen to me for five seconds he would know that I said ‘if this is really going to be a surprise we should go all out and get Will’s favorite snack, too’.”

“My favorite snack?” He questions, because his brain can’t comprehend someone actually paying enough attention to him to know what his favorite snack is.

Max sticks her hand into one of the bags Mike is holding, fishing around and pulling out a canister of Cheez Balls, “These are your favorite, right?”

Will can’t believe she actually remembered. He reaches out for them, and she pops off the lid and hands them over.

“I like your costume,” Eleven says as she passes by him with Dustin and Lucas following her towards the table. He doesn’t think he’s ever heard her compliment him. He blushes and shoves a Cheez Ball in his mouth to give his hands something to do.

“We’re a half hour late and you still haven’t set up the game?” Lucas teases, gesturing to the empty table. Mike starts to rattle off a brief summary of the campaign he had planned while Will turns to Max.

“You actually want to play this?” He asks her hesitantly. She hands him a cold sprite with a smile on her face.

“Totally. It sounds awesome.” She sounds…genuine. He stares at her for longer than he means to, analyzing her face to make sure she _really _wants to be here, “Mike said I can be a zoomer.”

With that, she turns back to Mike, paying close attention so she’s not completely lost when the game starts.

Will also attempts to listen to Mike as he talks and sets up the game, but he can feel tears settling onto his lower lid. He watches everyone else move around the room unloading snacks and setting up sleeping bags to prepare for a night in. A hand is on his shoulder in an instant.

“Hey, are you okay?” Mike asks him in signature Wheeler fashion. Will blinks a few times to clear away the water in his eyes. He quietly thanks whatever god might be out there for giving him such amazing friends. He doesn’t even care anymore that they stood him up before because he can’t find it in himself to be angry when they did_ all this_ for him.

“Yeah,” He grins, hands coming back to the hem of his costume, “I’m just really happy.”

Mike smiles back at him, a silent apology in his eyes for the times he had stood Will up before.

“Thank you.” Will adds, voice hardly above a whisper. He untangles his hands from the purple fabric and pulls Mike in for a tight hug.

And believe it or not, it was the single best campaign Will had ever been in. That was, until the next time, and then the time after that, and so on. Will Byers would never be heard asking for a day free of girls again because, as it turns out, they’re pretty damn awesome.


End file.
